The Midday Brief: May 5, 2010

Your afternoon reading:

“Texas' Republican officials, including Attorney General Greg Abbott and Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, generally have expressed confidence in BP.” — Offshore drilling not losing favor among Texas leaders — The Dallas Morning News

“Elisabeth Mandala, 18, and two Mexican men were found dead inside a Dodge Dakota pickup with Texas license plates in what turned out to be a staged traffic accident on a highway near the town of Mina about 6 a.m.” — Sugar Land teen found dead in Mexico — Houston Chronicle

“Crews for contractor Wild Well Control were putting the finishing touches Tuesday on the 100-ton containment dome. A barge at about midday would haul the contraption to the spot 50 miles offshore where a mile-deep gusher from a blown-out undersea well has been spewing at least 210,000 gallons of crude a day into the Gulf for two weeks.” — Dome to contain Gulf oil the next best solution — Associated Press

“The gunplay hasn't erupted in McAllen itself, but people here fear their hard-won economic gains, already dimmed by the recession, are under threat.” — Drug War Stalks Texas City — The Wall Street Journal

“Under Texas law, Hill is a male, according to Bernal's request. Hill's original New York birth certificate lists her as a male.” — Transgender marriage case referred to Texas attorney general — Fort Worth Star-Telegram

New in the Texas Tribune:

“The proportion of Texas doctors accepting all new Medicaid patients has tumbled in the last decade — falling from 67 percent to 42 percent, according to a Texas Medical Association survey. Medicare acceptance took a similar spill in that study, dropping from 78 percent to 64 percent.” — Keeping Their Bottom Lines Healthy

“The projected growth spurred by a major expansion of Fort Bliss, the Army’s expanse of more than a million acres near El Paso and in New Mexico, was described as nothing short of “astounding” in a 2008 report published by the state’s Senate Subcommittee on Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC).” — Stolen Bases

 “So, why Yao? Does this say something about a disdain for tall basketball stars? Chinese people? Or just cap-and-trade, as the web video mentions?” — Why Yao?